Alternatives
by Jacinabox
Summary: "And you think that it going to two vampires is a better alternative?"


a/n: Damon-centric. Enjoy :)  
>P.S. Sorry for the double upload, the link got deleted somehow.<p>

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><p>"Switching to animal blood, Damon?" Stefan said, noticing the little puppy that just ran out of Damon's room.<p>

"No, what would make you think that?" His brother replied, looking at him like he was crazy.

Stefan sighed and leaned down, the small dog ran to him eagerly. He picked it up and showed it to his brother. "Well, this isn't mine."

Damon, seeing the puppy, was in front of Stefan in a heartbeat. He grabbed the pup quickly. "I am not drinking this dog's blood. And neither are you." In a voice that was frighteningly serious.

"So why is there a-" Stefan cut himself off, and said something that he never thought he would say to Damon, ever. "Did you adopt a puppy?"

"Not exactly," Damon said, cradling the puppy in his arms. The puppy started falling asleep, and Damon was petting its fur. "It kept following me around, I had no choice but to bring it home."

"Why didn't you call animal control?" Stefan asked, secretly amused by the sight in front of him; he never thought he'd live to see the day where Damon Salvatore would actually care for something, much less a puppy.

"I know what they do to these kinds of dogs. They give them up for adoption, and let them go to eleven year-old kids that have no idea how to keep them alive." Damon scoffed at his brother's idea.

"And two vampires is a better alternative?"

"At least I can take care of it. I don't want Bacon to die in the hands of a stupid little kid."

"Bacon? Wait, you named that dog?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "How will if follow commands if it doesn't have a name?"

"Bacon?" Stefan said, laughing at his brother.

Damon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I ran out of ideas, okay?" He said impatiently.

Stefan put his palm to his face. "Fine, fine. Did you at least buy food for Bacon?"

Damon pointed to his bed. "I also got him bed, and chew toys."

Stefan couldn't help smile, but he was worried for Bacon. Damon is very temperamental, what if he kills the dog in a fit of rage? He sighed, and gave Damon a pat on the shoulder. "As long as you got everything under control." He left the room, leaving Damon to his new pet.

_Incoming call_

_Stefan_

"Damon adopted a puppy?" Elena asked, dumbfounded. She couldn't help laugh when Stefan nodded at her. She took a sip of her iced tea and looked at her boyfriend seriously. "Is that why you called me here?"

Stefan nodded. "I need your help."

"You're not gonna do anything to that dog, are you?"

Stefan shook his head. "Not anything that could hurt it." He said.

Elena sighed. "Why?"

Stefan sat down beside Elena and said, "I don't think Damon is the best owner for Bacon and-" He cut himself off, noticing Elena's clearly confused and amused expression. "Damon named it, not me." He explained and continued. "Anyway, I'm convinced that Damon will hurt that puppy when he's in a fit of rage, and I don't want to see that happen. So you and I are gonna get that dog and give it to someone less prone to hostile situations."

"So, we're gonna steal the dog and give it away?" Elena said.

Stefan bit his lip and nodded. "Basically."

Elena sighed. "But don't you think that it might be good for Damon to have something to care about, I mean given everything that happened with Rose?"

Stefan paused, considering this. "Well, maybe." He said, "But if it doesn't work, I don't want an innocent puppy to pay for it."

Elena glanced at her boyfriend for a second before flashing him a smile. "Fine. If it's that important to you, then I will help you with your dog heist."

Stefan rolled his eyes and smiled. "I love you, you know that?"

Damon was out for the day, Stefan thought it was the perfect time to take the dog and give it away. So that's what they did.

"Oh my goodness. It's adorable!" Elena exclaimed, picking up Bacon who immediately jumped in her lap. "You're a friendly one, aren't you?" Elena whispered, smiling.

"Come on, Elena. Damon can't see us." Stefan said.

Elena rolled her eyes and turned to Stefan. "Can I keep it?"

Stefan sighed. "No, you can't. Let's go." He said, trying his best to ignore the pout on his girlfriend's face.

"Hey, little kid." Stefan said sweetly, "Do you want a puppy?"

"Sure!" The little girl shouted gleefully, blond curls bobbing up and down. "What's your name?" Elena asked.

"Stephanie." The little girl said in reply. She looked at Bacon, sleeping in Stefan's arms. Elena looked over to Bacon and to Stephanie, "You have to take care of Bacon okay? We'll be very upset if you don't." She said, handing over Bacon over to Stephanie, her heart breaking a little. She thought of what Damon would think and she contemplated running and giving Bacon back to him.

"Do you promise?" Stefan asked.

Stephanie gave them a toothy grin. She raised her right hand and nodded. "I promise!" And with that, Elena handed over the still sleeping puppy to her and took Stefan's hand. They watched the little girl walk away happily.

"I have a very bad feeling about this." Elena whispered into Stefan's ear.

"It'll be fine."

_Incoming call _

_Damon_

"Elena, are you there? I have to ask you something."

Elena rubbed her eyes, and looked at her clock. _12:01 A.M. _"Damon, what do you need to ask me at midnight?" She asked sleepily.

"You were here today right? You didn't happen to see a small puppy running out did you?"

Elena's eyes widened. She sat up and said, "No, I didn't see anything. Why?"

"Well, I'm sure Stefan already told you but I sort of adopted a puppy and now it's gone and I'm sort of going crazy." A stab of guilt went through Elena hearing Damon's voice, stressed and panicked.

"I'll help you look for it tomorrow." Elena offered, trying to soothe her conscience.

"Thank you." Damon said, it surprised Elena how sincere he sounded. "Good night, Elena."

"Good night, Damon." She said and ended the call.

"What if it got run over by a car?" Damon asked, running his fingers through his hair for the nth time that day.

Elena sighed. "Damon, relax. I'm sure we'll find Bacon soon."

"But, what if we don't?" He said softly. Elena was stunned by his tone, and as he looked at her she had to suppress a gasp at what she saw. He slumped and his face held a certain kind of fear, like a kid being forced to sleep without his blanket.

Why does he care about that puppy so much?

"I didn't really know you were a dog person." Elena murmured, looking down at the sidewalk, hoping that the girl they gave the dog to moved to another state.

"I felt bad for it. It was just walking around town, lost." He replied, in a voice that didn't really seem to be his own. This was a new Damon, and Elena wasn't so sure if she liked it. He sounded broken, maybe it was because Damon felt the same way, maybe he felt lost too.

Elena wanted to apologize at that very moment, and she didn't realize that her phone started ringing.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" Damon asked.

Elena seemed to be knocked out of her reverie. She took the device from her purse and answered it. "Hello?" After a few minutes, she ended the call and turned to Damon. "I have to go, Jenna's freaking out about something and I don't even know what it is-" She patted Damon's shoulder and started running for her car.

"You'll find it, soon!" She yelled.

Damon sighed and continued walking, it wasn't long until he saw something that caught his eye. A small girl with blond curls, holding a dog that looked eerily like the one he was looking for.

"Hello, little girl." He said, a smile plastered on his face. "That's a really nice dog, what's it's name?"

The small girl looked up, tilting her head. "His name's Bacon."

Damon nodded, squatting down so he and the girl was face to face. "What's your name?""Mommy said I shouldn't talk to strangers." The little girl said, pouting and holding the dog closer to her.

Damon smiled a sweet smile. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." He reassured her.

"Now, what's your name?"

"Stephanie." The little girl said, still clutching the dog close, a strange fear taking over.

A day or so passed after Stefan gave Bacon away and he was more than startled to hear the same dog barking at him when he got home.

"Bacon, come here!" Damon shouted, holding a bowl brimming with dog food. Bacon jumped and barked at him and Damon let him eat contentedly. "Hello, brother. Why do you look so startled?" Damon gave him a smirk and walked back to the kitchen, to get a bowl of water for Bacon he assumed.

Stefan sighed and turned on the TV. An interesting news piece caught his attention. As he listened, he pinched the bridge of his nose. _What did I do?_

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><p>an: Did you like it? Was it a bit OC? Hihihi, the idea wouldn't leave me alone. I guess I should stick to fluff for VD for now. ;)  
>I purposely left the ending seem cut. <em>Bitin<em> is what they call it where I come from ;)  
>I'll leave it to your imagination, what do you think Damon did with Stephanie?<p>

Reviews are love :)

Oh, and meet Bacon. Isn't he adorable? :)  
>http: / fragilelittlething. tumblr. com/post/6133956021


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